Russian History

Russian HistoryLecture #1

Ancient History – The Romanov’s

Outline – Russia Lecture #1• Ancient Russia

– Settlement of Russia– Yaroslav the Wise– Mongol Invasion of Russia

• Retaking Russia– Ivan the Great– Ivan the Terrible

• Romanov Dynasty– Peter the Great– Catherine the Great

Ancient Russia 850 A.D.

Russia settled by Scandinavians People from Norway, Sweden, Finland Main city is Novgorod

Major Rulers: Oleg Vladimir I

Map of Russia (850-1235 A.D.)

Yaroslav the Wise (1030 A.D.) Made written laws

Encouraged Artists

Made alliances with other states

Divided the country up among his children when he died

Map of Russia (1235)

Invasion of Mongols (1237) Most of Russia

conquered by Mongols States forced to pay

“tribute” to Mongols

Mongols control Russia for next 200 years

City of Novgorod remains in Russian control

Ivan the Great (1480) Leads rebellion

against the Mongols

Freed Russian cities from Mongol control

Ivan the Terrible (1533) Becomes Tsar of Russia

as a 3 yr.old

Expanded Russian land into Siberia

Attacked his own followers if they displeased him (including his own son)

Romanov Dynasty Rules Russia until

end of World War I

Michael Romanov elected in 1613

Peter the Great (1689) Moved capital to St. Petersburg Made Russia more like Europe

Military Technology Clothing (even facial hair!) Laws

Established feudal system in Russia

Catherine the Great (1762-1796) Encouraged museums,

new buildings, libraries Believed in equality, but

treated the poor badly Very good at foreign policy Expanded Russian

borders

Russian HistoryLecture #2

Napoleon's Invasion – Russian Revolution

Outline – Russia Lecture #2• Napoleon's Invasion of Russia

• Feudal System and Serfdom

• Russo-Japanese War

• World War I

• Russian Revolution

Napoleon Invades Russia Who was Napoleon?

Emperor of France Conquered nearly all of Europe

Why he invaded Russia? To teach other countries a lesson

Result? Disastrous defeat for Napoleon

Napoleon’s Defeat Russian’s would not fight

Scorched Earth tactics French supply lines too long Russian winters too cold Russian army blocked retreat

French Army Invading Russia

French Army Retreating From Russia

French Army Making it Home

650,000 40,000 10,000

Feudal System (Serfdom) 3 classes of people

Ruling class Tsar and family

Nobles Land owners, Barons &

Knights Need serfs to work the

land Serfs (peasants)

Land workers (farmers) Need nobles to protect

them from invaders, criminals

Problems with Feudal System World was changing

“Western” culture had given up on the feudal system

Russia becoming more industrial Serfs no longer need protection

“Serfs” in Russia given freedom in 1860, but…

“Worker’s” lives did not improve

Map of Russia

Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) Russia expanded

borders east to Pacific Ocean (Vladivostok)

Japanese expanding West towards Russia

Russia is defeated Russian people

demoralized, hungry, poorer than ever

World War I (1914) After Russo-Japanese

War, Russian working class tired of war

Not prepared for war

Russia could not avoid WWI alliances

Russian Revolution (1917) Working class upset about

another costly war Economy is collapsing Tsar Nicholas II

“abdicated” the throne New government formed

Lead by Bolshevik (Worker’s) political party and Vladimir Lenin

Changes?

•Bolsheviks become “Communist Party”

•Russia quits WWI

•All people declared equal

•Peasants seize land from the rich, give it back, to EVERYONE!

Russian HistoryLecture #3

Cold War Background & Beginnings1945 - 1973

Outline – Russia Lecture #3

• Early Cold War Background• Beliefs• Aims• Resentments about History• Events

Early Cold War - Background What is a “Cold War?”

A struggle to limit and oppose the power of your opponent

Everything short of open warfare (a “hot war”)

Major Players in the Cold War United States

President Franklin D. Roosevelt (dies in 1945)

President Harry Truman Great Britain

Prime Minister Winston Churchill

Russia (a.k.a. Soviet Union, USSR) Secretary General Josef

Stalin

Causes of the Cold War

BELIEFS Soviet Union

Communist Dictatorship What is communism? What is a dictatorship?

United States Capitalist Democracy

What is capitalism? What is democracy?

AIMS Stalin wants large “reparations” from Germany and a

buffer zone of friendly states to protect Russia from future invasions

USA and Great Britain want to protect democracy and help Germany recover from WWII Worried that large areas of Eastern Europe would become

communist

What happens to countries that are poor and controlled by dictators?

RESENTMENT About History Soviet Union

Could not forget that USA and Great Britain tried to interfere in the Russian Revolution

Believed USA and Great Britain waited too long to enter WWII

Great Britain & USA Could not forget that Russia pulled out of WWI after Russia

Revolution Could not forget (or forgive!) that Stalin signed Non-Aggression

Pact with Hitler in 1939.

Events Yalta Conference USA Atomic Bomb Iron Curtain Speech Truman Doctrine Marshall Plan NATO formed Berlin Blockade Soviet Atomic Bomb

Korean War Warsaw Pact Vietnam War Sputnik Launched Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuban Missile Crisis Berlin Wall built JFK Assassination USA Moon landing End of Cold War events

Russian HistoryLecture #4

Cold War Events1945 - 1991

Events of the Cold War Yalta Conference USA Atomic Bomb Iron Curtain Speech Truman Doctrine Marshall Plan NATO formed Berlin Blockade Soviet Atomic Bomb

Korean War Warsaw Pact Vietnam War Sputnik Launched Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuban Missile Crisis Berlin Wall built JFK Assassination USA Moon landing End of Cold War events

1945 - Yalta Conference Deciding what

to do with Germany after WWII

Decision: Spilt Germany into 4 areas of control

Berlin Also DividedSame control structure as rest of Germany

1945 - USA Drops Atomic Bomb on Japan 220,000

Japanese killed in 3 days

Russians worried that next bomb will be dropped on them

1946 - Iron Curtain Speech Winston Churchill

Tells Stalin, “ We’re watching you”

Says that USA has a DUTY to spread democracy around the world

Speech

1947 – Truman Doctrine “Containment”

of Communism Wants to stop

the spread of communism to new countries

1947 – Marshall Plan Giving

money and supplies to countries in the world (mostly Europe) that reject communism

1949 - NATO Formed North Atlantic Treaty

Organization Military alliance An attack on any

NATO country will be treated as an attack on all NATO countries…especially against USA

1948 – Berlin Blockade (until 1949) Stalin cuts off

Berlin from the west USA flies supplies

into Berlin One plane landing

every 90 seconds for 1 year

1949 – Soviets explode Atomic Bomb USA no longer

the only “Nuclear Power” in the world

Creates a shift in world power

1950 - Korean War Soviet Union

controls/influences communist North Korea

USA controls/influences democratic South Korea

No clear winner

1953

1950

1955 - Warsaw Pact Counter move to

NATO Soviet Union

creates buffer zone of Eastern European countries

Any attack on Warsaw country is an attack on Russia

1957 – Sputnik Launched Part I of the “Space

Race” Soviet Union

launches first satellite to orbit the Earth USA is embarrassed Students must now

take more math & science classes

1961 – Soviets Send Man to Space Part II of the “Space Race” Soviet Union sends first

man into space Yuri Gagarin, first man in

space

1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion Communist Fidel

Castro leads Cuba USA wants to

remove Castro Major failure and

embarrassment for USA

1961 – Berlin Wall built Soviet Union

closes access to East Berlin

“Brain Drain” from East Berlin to West Berlin

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis Most tense moment of

Cold War Soviet Union places

nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from USA

USA cannot except this 13 days of

really REALLY

REALLY tense negotiations

1963 – JFK Assassination Most people

believe JFK killed by the Soviet Union

President Johnson almost declares war on Soviet Union in retaliation

1965-1973 - Vietnam Conflict Soviet Union

controls/influences communist North Vietnam

USA controls/influences democratic South Vietnam

No clear winner, but… USA comes out as the

loser

1969 – USA Lands on the Moon Part III of the “Space

Race” Neil Armstrong first

man on the moon

End of the Cold War 1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev

Glasnost – openness Perestroika - restructuring

1989 – Berlin Wall falls 1991 – Soviet Union

breaks apart Many new countries